I am an artist & designer, based in Los Angeles. I grew up in Charlotte, North 
Carolina, went to art school in Philadelphia and then lived in New York for a few years before finally landing in LA. I’ve been here for 8 years now and out of all the places that I have lived, I feel that LA has dramatically shaped the person that I am today. From a very young age, I have always felt a magnetism towards creating - using whatever is around and making something new. I have vivid memories of spending time with my dad at construction sites and finding pieces of scrap wood and assembling them into little sculptures. I quickly realized that what came so naturally to me, didn’t come so naturally to some of my classmates, and so I adopted the identity of an artist. As an adult, one of the greatest truths that I have come to know is that I feel the most like myself when I am making art. I feel the most authentic and the most at home in my body when I am creating. Living in LA has given me the physical and emotional space that I needed to create. When I first moved here, I lived in a little bungalow in Altadena. I had a tiny studio space at home and I had a giant front yard that I would work in year round. Because I was freelancing, I had pockets of open time to just make stuff. I felt an abundance of creative energy. That energy comes and goes of course but it was moving to LA that opened this internal door to my expression, one that I couldn’t seem to find in New York. I very impulsively signed up for a ceramics class in October of last year. I was feeling very heartbroken and a lot of life felt stagnant. I wanted to do something to mark a clear passing of time. Taking a class would give me a weekly obligation and force me to be social after a prolonged time of relative isolation. Working with clay immediately felt good. It felt like a loud YES. For me, creating art has typically always had an element of precision and control. With clay, there’s an element of surrendering, releasing expectations, and giving into the unknown. It was humbling to have so much to learn, so much to figure out and even with my best intentions, things still don’t turn out how I envisioned. Working with clay has definitely been a new teacher, lessons for making art and for being a human in this world. I was drawn to the idea of making lamps because they are such a necessity in our lives. I like the idea of creating something that has the possibility to become such an intimate part of a person’s life: the glow that illuminates your home; a source of ambiance; the object you sit beside when you read in the evening; the last thing you touch before you fall asleep. The past few years have definitely been tough, there has been a lot of loss and grief, both collectively and personally. I think with difficult experiences comes a lot of clarity, you see who and what really matters. For me that has manifested in a deepened dedication to honoring myself, loving myself and striving to live as authentically as possible. For my art practice, that means prioritizing it, as it directly affects my emotional world. Just as I need to exercise and eat healthy, I need to make art. I feel continuously inspired by the mystery of life. I have an insatiable desire to learn and explore. What keeps me going is the fact that I have no idea what is going to happen next and I have an eternal optimism that everything is happening exactly as it should be. I feel inspired by all of my friends that are artists and musicians and despite the odds, and despite the oppressive nature of capitalism, have found a way to live a life where they can center their creative expression. I try to engage in my art practice every single day, even if it is only for a few minutes. I was once given the advice to give my art practice 4 hours a day, 5 days a week, even when I am working full time. That is mostly impossible, but it is my goal. I struggle to find a balance between working, making art, being social, caring for myself and resting. I generally try to just take it one day at a time and not get too far ahead of myself.Some of my favorite current artists & makers just happen to be my friends: Julianna Barwick and Mary Lattimore are two incredible musicians that I met earlier this year and both are endless sources of inspiration. Ben Clark is an absolutely insane graphic designer, he made the flyer for my show. We met by total random chance at a festival a few years ago and bonded over the Grateful Dead and microdosing mushrooms. Patrick Arnold makes the wildest quilts that I have ever seen and I am also a huge fan of his ceramics too - we met at the pottery studio! Kat Mills Martin is a filmmaker and director and just had her LA premiere of her most recent film, Wake Up Leonard, which is stunning and hilarious! Kat is also one of my beloved yoga teachers - we met at Yogala, IYKYK. Kat’s husband - Ian Martin makes incredible sculptures, mirrors and designs the dreamiest interiors. Jenny Martin is a genius behind a sewing machine and can figure out how to sew just about anything. She only uses thrifted materials, her studio is a textile lover’s dream. John Ciamillo is a long time friend from college - he is a photographer that is making some of the most conceptually out there photographs that I have ever seen.Janelle Pietrzak is a wildly talented textile artist and has a delightful shop called All Roads. Everything she does is hugely inspirational to meI honestly don’t go shopping often but these are a few that continuously impress me Tommy Dorr’s vintage showroom - Moth Food in Highland ParkJoanna William’s home & textile studio - Kneeland Co. in West AdamsJanelle Pietrzak’s All Roads - in Joshua Tree & Palm Springs inside the Mojave Flea The Bode store in West Hollywood
I was fortunate enough to go to a very small art school and at the time, it had a lot of talented, tenured professors with long art careers. One of my favorite teachers was Moe Brooker, a wildly prolific and successful painter. During my thesis presentation in college, Moe pulled me aside and told me that there will be periods of time when no one will care about the work that you’re making and you won’t show your work at all, but despite that, you keep making art. This really touched me so deeply because I knew that Moe really saw me and I felt that he understood me. I knew this advice was coming from personal experience. Someone I admired and respected was telling me that there will be times when no gives a fuck about what you’re doing but you have to keep doing it. I think about that every day. You just keep going. My first Lykke Wullf experience was coming to a sample sale in 2019. I bought a matching set of railroad stripe denim workwear jeans and a chore coat. I wore those jeans to death and got endless compliments. I mean, I still wear them all the time. From that moment, I was hooked on LW. I am a very physical person and I am very hard on my clothes, I really make them work. What I love about LW is that it’s clothing that I feel sexy in and I can work in. When do these things ever meet? My current favorite style is the Painter Pant, I have two pairs and probably need a third. I truly love everything that LW makes, it feels so clear to me that everything is made with intention and love. LW is timeless and I cherish every piece that I own. I just want to say thank you to Jemma & the rest of the LW team for supporting me as an artist, from the collaboration last year to using your studio space to host my art show. Community is so important and I am so grateful for you